Pages

Monday, December 16, 2013

United States Is Now the Most Unequal of All Advanced Economies

According to the most accurate data we have to measure, the US is now the most unequal of all advanced economies, being beat only by countries such as Ukraine and Russia. Of course, Americans typically look at those countries as run by a bunch of mafia oligarch thugs, and believe the dream that people in the US gained their wealth through "hard work, dedication, and innovation." Of course, statistics are not published on the millions of bankrupt potential billionaires, or the fact that the DOW removes losers every so often, or that Bill Gates comes from a family of corporate lawyers (whose father was on the board of IBM at the time of the big 'deal' that made Microsoft what it is).

The most authoritative source comparing wealth-concentration in the various countries is the successor to the reports that used to be done for the United Nations, now performed as the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook. The latest (2013) edition of it finds (p. 146) that in the U.S., 75.4% of all wealth is owned by the richest 10% of the people. The comparable figures for the other developed countries are: Australia 50.3%, Canada 57.4%, Denmark 72.2%, Finland 44.9%, France 51.8%, Germany 61.7%, Ireland 58.4%, Israel 68.9%, Italy 49.8%, Japan 49.1%, Netherlands 54.6%, New Zealand 57.6%, Norway 65.9%, Singapore 61.1%, Spain 54.0%, Sweden 71.1%, Switzerland 71.5%, and U.K. 53.3%. Those are the top 20 developed nations, and the U.S. has the most extreme wealth-concentration of them all. However, there are some other countries that have wealth-concentrations that are about as extreme as the U.S. For examples: Chile 72.5%, India 73.8%, Indonesia 75.0%, and South Africa 74.8%. The U.S. is in their league; not in the league of developed economies. In the U.S., the bottom 90% of the population own only 24.6% of all the privately held wealth, whereas in most of the developed world, the bottom 90% own around 40%; so, the degree of wealth-concentration in the U.S. is extraordinary (except for underdeveloped countries).

...

The broadest mathematical measure of wealth-inequality is called “Gini,” and the higher it is, the more extreme the nation’s wealth-inequality is. The Gini for the U.S. is 85.1. Other extremely unequal countries are (pages 98-101 of this report) Chile 81.4, India 81.3, Indonesia 82.8, and South Africa 83.6. However, some nations are even more-extreme than the U.S.: Kazakhstan 86.7, Russia 93.1, and Ukraine 90.0. But Honduras and Guatemala are such rabid kleptocracies that their governments don’t even provide sufficiently reliable data for an estimate to be able to be made; and, so, some countries might be even higher than nations like Russia.

Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog via email

Liquidity Forex System

Disclaimer and Risk Disclosure

SPECIFIC FOREX RISK DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: BEFORE PROCEEDING, YOU MUST READ AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE FOLLOWING DISCLOSURE

The risk of loss in trading foreign exchange markets (FOREX), also known as cash foreign currencies, the inter-bank market or the FOREX markets, can be substantial. You should therefore carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you given your financial condition. Elite E Services does not control, and cannot endorse or vouch for the accuracy or completeness of any information or advice you may have received or may receive in the future from any other person not employed by Elite E Services regarding foreign currency trading or any managed account information. The factual information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but is NOT necessarily all-inclusive and is NOT guaranteed to be 100% accurate. The content herein is provided on a best efforts basis and is believed to be up-to-date and accurate; however, there are no explicit or implicit warranties of accuracy or timeliness made by Elite E Services or affiliates. FOREX trading involves substantial risk and is not for all investors. Investments or trading in the FOREX markets can be highly speculative and should only be done with risk capital which you can afford to lose and that, if lost, would not change or adversely affect your lifestyle. The high degree of leverage that is often possible in foreign exchange trading can work for you as well as against you. The use of leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains. Managed foreign exchange accounts can be subject to substantial charges for management and profit incentive Elite E Services, and in some cases introducing brokers’ commissions or mark-ups that are above and beyond the ordinary spread generally provided on a clearing firm’s trade execution platform. It may be necessary for those accounts that are subject to these charges to make substantial trading profits to avoid depletion or exhaustion of their assets. Performance results may vary due to account size, starting or closing date, the number of positions and/or markets traded and/or other factors.

This brief statement cannot disclose all of the risks and other significant aspects of the foreign exchange markets. Therefore, you should carefully review the disclosures contained in this document to determine whether such trading is appropriate for you in light of you particular financial condition. There are also risks associated with utilizing an internet-based deal execution system software application, and computerized trading and money management tools including, but not limited to, the failure of the hardware and software.

PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT NECESSARILY GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS, nor does it guarantee freedom from losses. The information contained herein should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell commodities, futures, securities, or any type of investment. Elite E Services highly recommends that before making a decision, the reader collects several opinions related to the decision and verify facts from several independent sources.

ADDITIONAL WEB DISCLAIMER: ALTHOUGH IT IS POSSIBLE TO PROFIT BY TRADING FOREIGN EXCHANGE, IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO LOSE 100% OF YOUR DEPOSIT. THERE IS A HIGHER PROBABILITY OF LOSING VS. WINNING GIVEN ENOUGH TIME. FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING IS EXTREMELY RISKY AND IS ONLY FOR THE SOPHISTOCATED INVESTOR WITH AN ABOVE AVERAGE UNDERSTANDING OF CURRENCY MARKETS. RISK CAPITAL SHOULD BE USED WHEN TRADING FX SYSTEMS, DEFINED AS CAPITAL THAT ONE CAN AFFORD TO LOSE 100%. ANY INVESTOR MUST CONSIDER THE RISKS OF FOREX TRADING AND DETERMINE IF IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR HIM or HER.

THIS WEBSITE IS NOT A SOLICITATION TO INVEST IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE SYSTEMS, THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT RECOMMEND ANY PARTICULAR INVESTMENT.